Baby-comforter.



W. F. WARE.

BABY UOMFORTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1908.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

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WITNESSES M ATTORNEY ANDREW a. GRAHAM cb.. PNOTO-UWOGRAPNERS. WASHINGTON. 0.1}

To all whom it may concern:

WALTER F. WARE, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BABY-OOMFORTER.

Spowification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

Application filed September 10, 1908. Serial No. 452,844.

Be it known that I, WALTER F. WARE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Baby-Comforters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a device for use as a baby comforter, the parts of which may be readily assembled, having an adjustable holder for the nipple and which is cheaper in construc tion and has greater durability than devices heretofore used for like purposes.

Other objects of my invention will appear in the following description and the accompanying drawing.

More specifically my invention consists in providing a holder for the nipple in the form of a clasp made preferably from metal which may be bent around a suitable ring and the ends thereof formed by a die or in any other suitable manner into a substantially cylindrical stem having an annular projection or projections forming a recess in which the neck of the nipple may be seated and firmly held by means of a disk or guard.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference figures are used to indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of a preferred embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional viewtaken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view, extended in a plane, of the preferred form of nipple holder shown in Fig. 1 before being formed to receive the nipple; Fig. 4-. is a perspective of the nipple holder shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan View, extended in a plane, of another form of nipple holder before being formed to receive the nipple and Fig. 6 is a central longitudinal sectional view of another adaptation of my invention.

In Fig. 1 a ring, preferably made from bone, is shown at 1 having an orifice 3 therein; 4; indicates a preferred form of the nipple holder of my invention which is mounted upon the ring 1 and is preferably made of metal and may be made by first forming a blank of which the ends 5-5 may be cone-shaped forming shoulders 6--6 with the reduced portions 7-7 and having a widened central portion 8 in which is a centrally disposed hole 9, as shown in Fig. 3. The nipple holder as thus formed may then be bent around the ring 1 so that the hole 9 will be in alinement with the orifice 3 of the ring and the reduced portions 7-7 and the ends 5-5 may then be shaped by a die to form the stem 10 of the nipple holder, best shown in Fig. 4, the shoulders 6-6 forming an annular projection 11 and a recess 12 being formed between the annular projection 11 and another annular projection 13 formed by the die. The part of the nipple holder about the ring is also formed by the die into a clasp 14 revoluble about but not easily removable from the ring. As shown in the drawings the parts forming the stem of the nipple holder are not pressed closely together by the die but are preferably left somewhat separated so that when they are compressed they will tend to spring apart owing to the resiliency of the metal.

The hollow rubber nipple 15 is provided with a neck 16 of preferably slightly less diameter than that of the recess 12 of the stem of the nipple holder and terminates .in the lip 17, surrounding the portion 12 when engaged with said holder. A disk or guard is shown at 18 and may be circular, preferably made of bone and having a centrally disposed orifice therein, shown at 19. The diameter of the orifice 19 is slightly less than the diameter of the neck of the nipple 15 when seated in the recess 12 and slightly greater than the diameter of the annular projection 11. It will be readily seen that by compressing the nipple it may be passed through the orifice 19 of the disk 18 and that the neck 16 of the nipple having been slipped or forced over the annular projection 11 and seated in the recess 12 of the stem of the nipple holder, the disk may then be placed-in position rearwardly of the projection 11 and inclosing and securely holding the neck 16 of the nipple within the recess 12. The placing of the neck of the nipple within the recess 12 and the adjustment of the guard or disk as just described forming the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 6 are greatly aided by the compressibility of the stem 10 and the holding of the said parts in such adjusted positions, is also assisted by the expansibility of the said stem 10 as above described and accidental displacement of they parts is thereby prevented. Conversely when it is desired to remove the nipple from its support the parts of the stem may be pressed together and the neck of the nipple and the guard slipped over and freed from the annular projection 11.

A cord 20 of any suitable length is provided as a convenient means for fastening the comforter to the wrist or to a button on the clothing. The ends of the cord pass through the hole 9 of the guard and the orifice 3 of the ring 1 into the interior of the stem 10 of the nipple holder and a knot 21 is formed to prevent the withdrawal of the cord from said interior as is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6. A sleeve or ring 22, having an orifice thereinof less diameter than the combined diameters of the strands of the cord 20 is provided, through which the strands pass and which may be moved along the strands by compressing the same slightly and is adapted to form a loop, as shown, which may be placed about the childs wrist and fastened thereto by means of the sleeve or ring 22, and thereby prevent the comforter from being lost, dropped or broken.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of my improved comforter in which a ring, such as is shown in Fig. 1, is not employed. The form of the stem of the nipple holder in Fig. 6 is substantially like that shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, but instead of the clasp 1% I provide a substantially spherical portion 23 which may be used as a handle, and the ends of the cord 20 are knotted in the same manner as shown in the preferred form of my invention, the knot being contained within the interior of the spherical portion 23, and owing to the knot being larger than the hole 9 its withdrawal therethrough is prevented. The manner of mounting the nipple and the guard upon the stem of the holder may be the same as employed in the like operation in the preferred form of my invention and the shaping of the nipple holder may be made by a die or in any other suitable manner.

In devices constructed heretofore for like purposes the nipple holder has usually been made of bone having a base in which is provided a hole adapted to receive the ends of a split ring by springing the ends apart until they are in engagement with the opening and then releasing the ring whereby the ends thereof become seated in the opening. In thus mounting the support upon the ring a large proportion of the rings are broken due to their brittleness and imperfect formation and accordingly it has only been practical to use the best quality of rings. I have entirely overcome this undesirable feature by providing a support for the nipple which may be mounted upon an integral ring. Furthermore, should a flaw exist in the ring it may be covered by the clasp and consequently rings of a second or an inzgrz 954,066

ferior quality may be equally well utilized. Again, in comforters heretofore constructed similar parts are frequently not uniform having varying cross sections and differing otherwise such as variances in the thickness of the wall of the nipple. It will, therefore. be very evident that owing to the lack of uniformity in the construction of the parts of comforters heretofore constructed, considerable additional expense in their manufacture is thereby incurred, such as the time spent selecting parts adapted to each other and the waste of some of the parts which, owing to their imperfect construction cannot be utilized.

As will be apparent in my improved com forter considerable variation in the construction of parts may exist and not prevent the assembling and adjustment of the parts or impair the usefulness of the comforter as thus assembled. Furthermore, owing to the imperfect construction and lack of uniformity in the parts of comforters heretofore made it frequently happens that the parts thereof, owing to their loose adjustment wear out very quickly and fall apart and the comforter is rendered permanently useless. It will be apparent that I have overcome these disadvantages in my invention by providing a comforter in which the parts adjust them selves to each other and are always in firm engagement with each other, which advan tages are present in my comforter during its use.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in the form and construction of my invent-ion from the embodiments shown and described by me without, however, departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A baby comforter comprising a closed ring, an orifice in a side of said ring, a contractible and expansible nipple holder mounted upon said ring, having a hole in the por tion thereof mounted upon said ring, a nipple mounted upon said nipple holder, and a securing cord passing through said hole and said orifice and a knot upon said cord adapted to prevent the withdrawal of said cord through said hole and orifice.

2. A baby comforter comprising a nipple, a closed ring having an orifice in a side thereof, a metal nipple holder proy ided with a centrally disposed hole, said nipple holder being bent around said ring so that the hole therein is in alinement with the said orifice in the said ring, a cord passed through said hole and said orifice into the interior of the nipple holder, and means for preventing the withdrawal of the cord from said holder.

3. A baby comforter comprising a nipple, a holder for said nipple, having opposed spring aws forming a tubular stem having a depression, and comprising a chamber hav- In Witness whereof I have hereunto set ing a restricted outlet arranged to retain the my hand this 9th day of September, A. D. knotted end of a cord, and a guard disk pro 1908.

vided with an aperture surrounding said nip- WALTER F. WVARE. ple and seated in said depression and held Witnesses:

rigid therewith by the resiliency of said FREDERICK A. BLOUNT,

spring jaws. ALEXANDER PARK. 

